Why have policies?

It is fundamentally important for organisations to develop policy. An organisation without policy is an organisation without control. If there were no formal documented policies, then organisation personnel at any level would have no guidance on how to make decisions.

Imagine if you had a faulty product and you wished to return it to the shop from which it was purchased. If the shop has no policy on refunds, the result on whether you were able to obtain a refund might depend upon which person you spoke to, or whether the person you spoke to was having a bad day. In short, an absence of policy leads to inconsistency of decision making.

From the point of view of the business of organisation manager, policies provide really useful and necessary assistance. The manager cannot be everywhere all the time to ensure staff carry out their tasks correctly and responsibly. Instead the manager will develop and communicate policies, and ask staff to read and adhere to them. Therefore policies help to decrease the amount of direct supervision by the manager, and at the same time increase the efficiency of work processes.

Not everyone understands why policies exist. Some people may view them as being bureaucratic and overbearing. In reality, however, the existence of policies provides many benefits provided they are written well and kept up to date.